Rangers 3-0 Falkirk

Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers maintained their 10-point lead over Celtic with a comfortable home win over bottom club Falkirk.Steven Davis curled home a delightful free-kick to put the home side in front before Scott Arfield and Ryan Flynn missed good chances to level.

John Fleck squeezed home from a tight angle to double the hosts' lead early in the second half.

And Steven Whittaker quickly added a third with a composed finish.

Celtic, who still have a game in hand, had briefly shortened Rangers' advantage with victory over Hamilton earlier in the day but the Ibrox side recovered from a slow start against the Bairns to record a second win in four days.

A long lofted ball into the box by Sasa Papac was headed powerfully towards goal by Danny Wilson, forcing Falkirk goalkeeper Robert Olejnik to tip wide in Rangers' first meaningful attack.

And within moments Rangers were presented with the chance to take the lead after Brian McLean had fouled Kyle Lafferty 20 yards from goal.

Having scored against St Mirren in midweek, Davis was in confident mood and curled delicately into the top corner, with Olejnik unable to get more than a finger-tip to the 18th-minute opener.

The Bairns steadied themselves and should have equalised when Vitor Lima was allowed to drive at the Rangers defence and play in Arfield, the midfielder shooting tamely into the arms of Allan McGregor.

The home defence came under pressure again when Flynn had two headed efforts in quick succession from Jack Compton's inswinging corner but Rangers eventually scrambled clear.

Rangers were determined to extend their lead early in the second half and Lafferty should have done better with a header after being found by Davis' centre.

Nacho Novo had been moved from the left flank to the centre of the Ibrox side's attack after the break and the Spaniard had two chances to score within a matter of seconds.

The forward latched on to a long ball and was primed to blast home when Falkirk captain Darren Barr got across to make a block and Novo then blazed over from Whittaker's cutback.

But the pressure eventually told as Davis raced down the right and squared for Fleck to side-foot into the net off the despairing dive of Olejnik.

And Davis played a part in Rangers' third, finding Whittaker in space before the the full-back meandered into the box and swept into the far corner.

The pace of Novo's replacement Steven Naismith created an opening for Davis, but the swerve on the Northern Ireland international's shot carried it wide.

Steven Smith had earlier come on in place of Papac and came close to getting on the scoresheet after playing a one-two with Davis and belting a shot towards goal, Olejnik diverting the effort out for a corner.

Falkirk pushed for a late consolation but Enoch Showunmi was foiled by David Weir's challenge.

Rangers manager Walter Smith: "In the first half of the game, we were a little bit slow to start and never really got any consistency in terms of our passing and possession of the ball.

"In the second half we were better, we created far more opportunities.

"It was a terrific free-kick from Steven Davis, he's been doing well for ages for us and if there's a better player in the country just now then I haven't seen him.

"He's been doing really well for us both in central midfield and out in the wider area of the pitch. He's been outstanding, not just this season but since he came to us.

"It was good to see John Fleck getting a goal. It's a big ask of our younger boys to replace Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller. Kyle Lafferty and John are working very hard."